Thinking...

Whoa!  Four months without a post.  We are happy, making a home out of our cabin, and have to-do lists as long as they have ever been!  Amy is an awesome girl, and I am appreciating her in new ways each day as we weave our lives together.  We are missing y'all, and I hope to not be quite such a stranger on xanga... mmmm... shortly (best not to define the word "shortly," haha).

God bless you all exceedingly!  Keep seeking Him with a whole heart - it is worth it! 

With a heart full of thankfulness for God and each of y'all~
John

What are you seeking?

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 5:33

Praise Yeshua for His love in drawing us to Himself, and then fulfilling the needs and desires of our hearts.  Every bit of life in which I have sought the Lord first, is bearing fruit at this season of life.  My heart is also full of gratefulness for the training in righteousness and blessing that so many people have invested into Amy and me from the time we were little.  Every effort to seek Jesus and His kingdom is well worth the effort! 

Life has been eventful since my last post, with new experiences, dreams beginning to come true, joy, sorrow, return to joy, Jesus, Amy and much blessing!  Along with all of that is just plain ol’ hot and sweaty work to provide for my family, and lots of it.

Currently I am working on preparing our cabin, hoping to have it ready in time for our wedding.  

Some quotes I have appreciated recently, and observe to be true: 

“What you choose controls you.”  - Chris Hogan

“Yes, you have freedom to make your own choices, but you cannot choose your consequences.”  - Chris Hogan

“Great minds discuss ideas.  Average minds discuss events.  Small minds discuss people.”  - Eleanor Roosevelt 

Some pictures of the many “things… added unto me”: 

My beloved Amy  (oops! no kiss yet!)

Nearly a lifelong dream - my own tiller to cultivate the soil:

The result of tilling the soil - reaping what I have sown:

Precious newborn Grace - my niece to be:

Ian ol' buddy ol' pall, nephew to be, my lucky partner in crime at the apple orchard/petting zoo:

Faith - another future niece hangin' with... who is that guy???

A gift from my uncle... hmmm sure is fun, had it for a few months and I've ridden it maybe 3 times???

Uh oh... we pause for technical difficulties...

Blessings~

Sir John the Mysterious

Four months ago... Five days ago... The sixth...

God has been doing great and wonderful things!  It all started back in Genesis when “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.”  I have discovered what God said to be true, “It is not good for the man to be alone….” 

I have spent the last several years grappling with these thoughts, and endeavoring to follow Jesus’ leading along the way.  There have been times of questions and wondering, times of direction, many deaths of vision, and many rays of hope.  There have been times of joy, times of pain, and much time with Jesus.  Through all these things I have cultivated contentment, learned tons about life, and drawn closer to Jesus.

All of that to say, Jesus has led me down a new path full of changes.  But so many things remain the same as one travels down this path:  Jesus and His character, His principles, and the glorious ways that people understand each other’s hearts.

With a heart full of joy, I am glad to say that my good friend Amy and I have been traveling a path that has led us closer together for some time.  Neither of us recognized it for several years.  But through an extraordinary set of events our friendship has rapidly become a wonderful exploration of the possibility of marriage, beginning in mid January.

Here are some pictures that might lend a hint as to our thoughts on the matter:

We were engaged 5 days ago, on May 6^th! 

I appreciate Amy so much for the heart she has to love Jesus and all the people He brings across her path.  There is a long list of things I appreciate about Amy: character, ideals, personality etc etc… but that can come in a later post. 

For you dear friends whom we have not called personally, I deeply regret our lack of time and forethought to get in touch with you; our schedule has been exceedingly full.  Please accept our apology as we now use the modernity of XANGA in our endeavor to let you all know what the Lord is doing in our lives. 

Blessings to y’all!

Sir John the Mysterious

A post? Nah, a post on the fly!

Spring has sprung,
Sun versus Xanga;
Stepping up the next rung-
Life is full of dange-uh!

Things are busy-
Lots of work and fun;
Sometimes I'm dizzy,
Anywho, I'm on the run!

I'll try to post something on a slow day - just wanted to let you know I'm doing well!

Here are a couple of pictures from a recent photo op:

Sir John the Mysterious

Workin'

I guess its time to post a bit of John's life!  Somehow when he is doing contracting work, his computer time diminishes... sorry he has not even found time to comment and hang out with y'all! 

Stained glass windows are a spectacular sight in many churches, and ours has probably more than its share of them!  It is a wise thing to keep them protected from the weather, and the storm windows are badly deteriorating!!!  This is the bottom of a window in comparatively better condition than the rest:

I don't know if I have much skill in storm window work, but hey, the people who built them used various dimensions of lumber in the same window, so I guess I am allowed to make it up as I go.  This window used to be one piece - 12 feet tall, and 4 feet wide.  When we took it down, it was light enough to handle because almost all the glass had fallen out of it.  When I rebuilt it, I made it into 3 sections for ease of handling.  The bottom section is all new construction:

Washin' the window at about 20* F before hanging a finished storm window:

Encourage your hearts in God our Savior!  He is at work, even in the mundane things of life.  Some days it is hard for me to remember that, but He is faithful:

"If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful;
For He cannot deny Himself."
2Timothy 2:11-13

Die to self daily!  Allow Jesus to resurrect you daily!  Grow in faith!

Blessings~
Sir John the Mysterious